The Highwayman
by Ziska Ames
Summary: AU. Darien is living a lawless life as a highwayman with Serena for a sweetheart.


Hey. My new story, "The Highwayman", is loosely based on the poem.   
For those unfamiliar with this wonderful poem, I have included it below.   
This is the abridged version, which was set to music by Loreena McKennitt.   
This is not a song-fic, so this is the only place this poem will appear in   
the story, but reading it before hand should help you really understand the   
story. It does spoil the ending though... a warning.  
  
Also, this will not be a happy story. It ends very sadly. Just a   
warning to those of you who dislike sad stories.  
  
Ja ne!  
Ziska Ames  
OpiumChicken@yahoo.com  
http://ziskaames.tripod.com/stories/  
  
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The Highwayman  
By: Alfred Noyes  
  
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees  
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas  
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor  
And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding,  
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.  
  
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,   
A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;  
They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh!  
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle, his pistol butts a-twinkle,  
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.  
  
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,  
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;  
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there  
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord's daughter,  
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.  
  
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand  
But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand  
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;   
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight, (Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)  
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.  
  
He did not come at the dawning; he did not come at noon,  
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,  
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,  
A red-coat troop came marching, marching, marching,  
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.  
  
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,  
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;  
Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side!  
There was death at every window, and hell at one dark window;  
For Bess could see, through the casement, the road that he would ride.  
  
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;  
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!  
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the dead man say -  
'Look for me by the moonlight. Watch for me by the moonlight.   
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way!'  
  
She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!  
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat of blood!  
They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years!  
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, cold, on the stroke of midnight,  
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers.  
  
Tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs were ringing clear  
Tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?   
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,  
The highwayman came riding, riding, riding,  
The red-coats looked to their priming! she stood up straight and still!  
  
Tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot, in the echoing night!   
Nearer he came and hearer! Her face was like a light!  
Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath,  
Then her finger moved in the moonlight, her musket shattered the moonlight,  
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death.  
  
He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know she stood  
Bowed, with her head over the musket, drenched with her own red blood!   
Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear  
How Bess, the landlord's daughter, the landlord's black-eyed daughter,  
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.  
  
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky  
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!  
Blood-red were the spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,  
When they shot him down on the highway, down like a dog on the highway,  
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.  
  
Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,  
When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas,  
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  
A highwayman comes riding, riding, riding,  
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.  
  
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"The Highwayman"  
Recorded by Ziska Ames  
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Serena looked up as the shutters banged loudly. Her father yelled   
up the stairs. His words were lost to the howling of the wind, but Serena   
knew what to do. Quickly she moved about the small inn, locking the doors   
and closing the shutters as tight as possible. If a storm came, better that   
preparations were already made. If this was all in vain, at least the   
howling of the wind was diminished.  
  
But Serena sighed as she sat before her tiny vanity. Darien was   
supposed to come today, and if it stormed, he'd never make it. It was   
dangerous enough for him to come into any kind of settlement, but to come   
in a blizzard would be courting death.  
  
Serena smiled dreamily as she pictured her valiant 'knight', as she   
preferred to call him. Even to her, a common bred country girl, the name   
'highwayman' was a frightening title. She preferred not to bestow it upon   
her true love.  
  
A mental image came to her and she giggled as she thought of the   
silly French hat he insisted on wearing. Her giggle dissolved into a purely   
happy sigh as she remembered the bunch of lace he wore at his throat. It   
had been her mid-winter gift to him.   
  
She'd saved for weeks to buy a bit of lace, then a dear neighbor   
had passed away and left her lace shawl to Serena. She was delighted, for   
she would never have been able to simply purchase enough material to make   
any kind of decent gift.   
  
She had carefully dissected the shawl and re-crocheted it into a   
handsome throat decoration. Darien had been delighted and sworn he would   
wear it till the day he died. Serena had no doubt that he would.  
  
Her mind continued to rove over his mental image and she sighed   
lustily as she thought of the way his trousers fit him so snuggly. She was   
a young girl of sixteen, true, but there had been many a drunken patron   
whom could only be placated in one way. Serena frowned. She didn't like her   
new train of thought.   
  
She wasn't ashamed that she was used to keep a peace in the inn,   
but she didn't like to dwell on the fact. She knew someday she would marry   
Darien, and then it would be as if she were new again. She shook her head   
and focused back on her absent love.  
  
She skipped quickly over the image of his pistols and rapier.   
Weapons of any kind made her nervous. Even watching her father wield a   
butter knife in a half-drunk rage could make her tremble.   
  
Her thoughts were dashed as her sensitive ears pricked. Someone   
was coming into the yard. She listened hard, her hands grasping the edge of   
the vanity in hope, and almost cried for joy when she heard his soft   
whistle. He had come!  
  
She practically flew across her tiny room to the window and flung   
the shutters open. There, below her, was Darien. He was the spitting image   
of her mental imagination and she had the sudden urge to giggle as he   
smiled at her rakishly from under the brim of his beloved hat.  
  
"Serena, my sweet, beautiful Serena." he murmured as he gazed upon   
her shinning blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes in the light of the single   
lantern in the inn-yard. "My love, soon I can have your hand. I'm after a   
prize tonight that will allow me to make our lives comfortable till our   
great-grandchildren die. King George's armory is carrying a large shipment   
of gold. It will be mine by morning."  
  
"Oh, Darien! King George's treasury! That is too dangerous. What if   
they were to catch you? I could not live without you, not for a day."   
Serena whispered as she leaned precariously out of the window. Her   
brilliant eyes sparkled with terrified tears.   
  
"Don't worry, my love. If they are to give chase, I shall escape.   
Fear not. I should just be delayed and I shall come to buy your hand by the   
moonlight instead of the morning rays." Darien whispered as he gazed lovingly   
into Serena's eyes, giving her as much reassurance as he could. "No matter   
what, I shall join you by night to-morrow."  
  
"Do you promise, Darien?" Serena asked, a certain pleading filling   
her voice.  
  
"I swear it, my love." Darien rose up as straight as he could in   
the saddle and reached a hand up to her. "Allow me to kiss your hand for   
luck and I shall be on my way."  
  
Serena leaned over as far as she could, but only their finger tips   
brushed. Inspiration struck and Serena quickly undid the braid holding her   
long golden hair. She again leaned precariously out of the window and let   
go. Her hair fell, flowing around Darien's hand. He grinned mischievously.  
  
"Even better." he commented as he kissed the long flowing strands.  
"Watch for me, my love."   
  
Then he turned and quietly walked the horse out of the inn-yard. As   
soon as they were on the main road Serena watched him spur the horse and   
gallop into the West.  
  
"Be careful, my gallant knight." A sad half smile tugged at her   
mouth.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Serena, why do you keep looking out the window?" Mina cried in   
exasperation as Serena allowed her knitting to fall to her knees again as   
she gazed sorrowfully out the window. Serena's head jerked back and she   
stared at Mina in surprise.  
  
"Huh?" she said after a moment.  
  
"I said, why do you keep looking out the window?"  
  
"Oh... Darien was supposed to come."  
  
"When?" Mina immediately lowered her voice. Mina was the only   
person who knew of Serena and Darien's secret relationship. She was a   
constant source of support for Serena when Darien was late for a promised   
meeting.   
  
Serena always managed to convince herself of the worst situation,   
that he could not come because he had been killed or arrested. Mina always   
managed to drag her out of her despair and convince her to do something   
constructive till Darien appeared. He always should up eventually, and   
Serena would immediately forget her sadness while Mina slipped out of the   
room to give them relative privacy.  
  
"This morning." Serena said with an unhappy sigh. "I'm worried,   
Mina."  
  
"You always worry." Mina retorted as she looked back to her   
knitting. Half a day late wasn't bad for Darien, who could take an entire   
week to return.  
  
"I know... but this time is different. Mina... he went after King   
George's treasury."   
  
"What?!" Mind cried in outrage sitting up abruptly and allowing her   
knitting to fall on the floor. "Is he crazy?"  
  
"You aren't helping!" Serena cried as her eyes filled with tears.   
"Oh Mina, I told him not to... what if... what if they caught him? He can't   
escape the red coats."  
  
"Oh Serena." Mina came and kneeled on the floor next to her weeping   
friend. "It'll be okay. Darien always pulls through. He'd never abandon you."  
  
Serena sniffed as she looked down at Mina. "Now stop crying. Your   
nose will get all red and your face all blotchy and what kind of impression   
would that make on Darien's grand return?"   
  
Serena's laugh was watery. She reached into her pocket for a   
handkerchief. "You're right, of course."  
  
"I'm always right." Mina teased.   
  
Serena nodded and absently glanced out the window. With a resigned   
sigh she smiled at Mina and resumed her knitting.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Soon night had fallen and Serena had restrained herself from   
looking out of the window too often. Eventually Mina stood and put her   
knitting away in her small bag. "The light's gone, Serena. He'll come." she   
said reassuringly. "But I must leave. Mother will have a fit if I'm out too   
late after dark."  
  
"I understand. Thank you for spending the day with me, Mina."   
  
"Anything for my love sick girl." Mina smiled affectionately.  
  
Serena smiled back and glanced out the window one last time, and   
immediately stopped smiling. "Red-coats." she whispered tautly.  
  
"What?" Mina said as she turned to the window as well. She gasped   
as she saw brilliant velvet coats on the men that marked a troop of King   
George's Men. Had they tracked Darien here? Had they some how found out   
Serena was his lover?   
  
"Oh Mina! What do we do?" Serena cried fearfully.  
  
"You stay here. Maybe they will pass by. If they don't, I'll climb   
out the window once they enter the inn and warn the rest of the town. Don't   
worry, Serena." Mina whirled suddenly and gripped Serena's arms. "You'll be   
fine. They can't know about Darien."  
  
Serena nodded dumbly, but her eyes kept going back to the regiment   
in the distinctive red coats. Her lip trembled in fear.  
  
Mina closed the shutters and they huddled at the cracks, watching   
as the men approached. Soon they entered the town and stopped. Mina held   
her breath, praying they would move on, that this was a temporary rest.   
  
She was severally disappointed when the soldiers slung the packs   
off their backs and dumped them in a corner of the inn-yard. They were   
staying for the night.  
  
Serena cried out softly and ran to the bed. She huddled on it in   
fear till Mina came and took her in her arms. "Don't worry. They'll leave   
in the morning and it will all be fine. I have to go though. Serena, at   
midnight I'll come to the inn-yard gate and watch the inn. If anything   
happens... I'll find Darien. I swear it."  
  
"Thank you." Serena whispered.   
  
She waited till the soldiers were in the inn, then slowly climbed   
out of the window and down the treacle to the ground. She whirled quickly   
and Serena watched as she slipped into the night to warn the town of the   
red-coats at the inn.  
  
After a moment, Serena screwed up her courage and crept to the   
landing outside her door. She peered through the rough wooden bars of the   
railway for the stairs and trembled. There were at least twenty men down   
there!  
  
She was almost indignant when they ignored her father and kicked   
out the other patrons. But she held herself in check. They would only laugh   
at her if she stormed down to the main level and if they got drunk enough   
they might even 'punish' her. She trembled again.   
  
She'd die before one of those men touched her.  
  
She crept back into her room and wished desperately that she had a   
lock on her door.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Soon she had fallen into a fitful sleep. She was awakened when the   
door of her room was slammed open. Three red-coats came in and immediately   
seized her. She didn't cry out, though she was afraid. She could smell the   
liquor on their breath and prayed that they were not too drunk.   
  
She was momentarily relieved when they pushed her into a chair and   
began to tie her up. At least none of them had begun to divest themselves.   
She shuddered when one of the men pulled a musket off his back and tied it   
in front of her, propped between her legs so it rested just under her   
breasts.   
  
One of the men leaned over and kissed her harshly on the mouth. She   
squeezed her eyes shut and locked her jaw. He pulled back and patted her on   
the head. "Keep good watch, wench." he said as his friends pulled out a   
pack of cards and sat at her vanity.   
  
She gasped as silent tears ran down her cheeks. They knew. They   
were here for Darien. And she was bait.  
  
For long moments she allowed herself to sit in misery, thinking   
only of how unfair the world was. Then she squared her shoulders. Darien   
didn't have to die! She could warn him. It would be at the cost of her   
life, but she would literally give up anything for Darien.   
  
She kept her eyes on the road, but glanced at the men from the   
corner of her left eye as she slowly began to work her wrists in the rope.   
She bit her lip to keep from crying out as the rope bit harshly into her   
flesh.   
  
She didn't know how much time had passed when she finally was able   
to slip her right hand from the bindings. She prayed silently and thanked   
God for the blood on her wrists, which had allowed her to free herself.   
Watching the guards carefully she moved her right hand around to the front.   
  
Just as she slipped her finger in against the trigger she heard   
the clock ring. Twelve long ominous booms sounded across the town and   
surrounding countryside. Darien's promise came to her mind.   
  
"No matter what, I shall join you by night to-morrow."   
  
"Oh Darien." she whispered silently under her breath. The midnight   
hour was here and Mina would now be standing watch at the inn-yard gate.  
  
Serena was happy for the little things. Once Darien had seen her   
warning and fled, Mina could tell him the entire story. He wouldn't be left   
in the dark his whole life. He could mourn her and move on.   
  
She smiled sadly and rested her finger against the trigger. She   
kept one eye on the road, and watched her guards with the other.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Her eyes were drifting shut when she heard it. That characteristic   
sound of hooves on the ground. Darien was coming! She locked her eyes on   
the road and struggled not to draw the guard's attention.   
  
She almost cried when she saw him top the hill and head down it.   
She could barely make out his face and she smiled sadly at him. She had to   
time this right.  
  
She took a shuddering breath and concentrated. Then, just as Darien   
looked up at her window, she pulled the trigger.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mina cried out as she heard the gun. Her head whipped around from   
Darien's approaching figure to the inn and she started to sob as she   
recognized the shattered figure in the window. Serena was dead.  
  
She turned and ran into the street. Darien was already gone.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The guard's heads snapped up and they stared in shock at the dead   
girl. How had she gotten a hold of the trigger? One of them jumped up and   
ran to the window.  
  
He watched grimly as another girl ran head long down the road. He   
also saw the dust raised by someone on horseback.  
  
It had to be the notorious highwayman they were after. And surely   
that girl was going after him.  
  
Well, the dead girl was his lover. After he heard the story from   
the second girl, surely he would come back to avenge her.   
  
They only had to wait. He told his rationalizations to his comrades   
and they nodded in agreement. They pitched the body out the window and   
resumed the card game.   
  
They sat close to the window so they could keep watch. The man   
leaned the used musket against the wall.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Darien!" Mina cried as she stumbled into the clearing. He looked   
up from his horse's side in surprise and then need.  
  
"Mina! What's happened?" he grabbed her forearms and shook her   
slightly. "What was that?"  
  
"King George's Men!" Mina gasped. She sat down hard in the grass.   
"They came to the inn. I was watching from the gate." Suddenly she buried   
her face in her hands.  
  
"She's dead! Oh Darien, she's dead." she sobbed.  
  
"What?" Darien asked in shock. All the color flooded from his face   
and his eyes grew large.  
  
"She killed herself with a musket. To warn you. She's dead." Mina   
moaned as she rocked herself back and forth on the ground.   
  
"No." Darien whispered. Quickly he turned and leapt into the saddle,   
eyes blazing. "No!" he yelled defiantly as he spurred out of the clearing   
and back to the inn.  
  
Mina only moaned sadly and continued to cry. Serena was dead.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"No!" was all Darien could cry as he pelted down the road, raising   
great clouds of dust behind him. He leaned forward in the saddle and urged   
the horse faster.  
  
He refused to cry. His vision would be obscured and he could never   
avenge his love if he couldn't see. He would cry later. Later he would   
mourn the loss of his only love.   
  
Now only revenge filled his thoughts. He must have it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The guard looked up nonchalantly.   
  
"Here he comes, boys." With a slow elegance the man reloaded the   
used musket and cocked it. He rested his shoulder against the window frame   
as a steady and brought the barrel to his eye. He sighted carefully and   
held it till Darien was in full view.  
  
For half a moment the man was caught off guard. He looked so   
anguished.   
  
The guard had never thought of the highwayman as an actual human.   
He'd been dehumanized in the eyes of the entire regiment. It was the only   
way they could stalk him.  
  
But seeing that sadness and loss in his eyes. The man suddenly   
thought back to two years ago when his wife had been buried in a landslide.   
He'd worked fervently for the whole night to dig her out, only to find a   
crushed and mangled body.  
  
He'd been almost destroyed. His grief all consuming. Was the   
highwayman feeling that, too? Now that he knew his love had killed herself?  
  
Suddenly a large hand landed on the man's shoulder. "Well?" a   
second guard asked with a stern gaze. "Kill him."  
  
The man nodded to his superior officer and sighted on the   
highwayman again. But now his hands trembled.  
  
In annoyance the officer grabbed the gun from him and quickly   
sighted. Darien was almost to the gate now.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Suddenly the horse was simply gone. Darien flew through the air and   
landed hard on his side. He moaned and looked up, into the wide eyes of   
Serena.  
  
He sobbed out loud and wrapped his arms around her, crying into her   
hair.  
  
The second crack of a gunshot didn't register in Darien's grief   
driven world. It never would.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The officer handed the second gun back to the guard and nodded.   
Then he turned and left the room.   
  
The guard looked out the window sadly. A wind suddenly whipped   
through the yard, scattering dirt on the two bodies. The man noticed   
something white flutter in the wind and leaned out the window for a better   
look.  
  
Suddenly the door to the inn opened and a man came out. He knelt   
next to the bodies and plucked something from Darien's throat. In the   
lantern light the guard saw it was a simple lace bauble.   
  
  
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*sniff sniff* I almost had a sob attack writing this. Well, comments are   
always appreciated!!  
  
OpiumChicken@yahoo.com  
  
And check out my website!  
  
http://ziskaames.tripod.com/stories/  
  
Ja ne!  
Ziska Ames 


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